Component handling and tipping machine



, March 6, 19.62 R. ULLMAN ETAL COMPONENT HANDLING, AND TIPPING MACHINEOriginal'Filed Oct. 2, 1956 18 Sheets -Sheet 1 BEND mu SYNFTWG AND LYTERM INAL APPLY -TRm arosg" TRIM 51 21" APPLY March 6, 1962 R. ULLMANETAL COMPONENT HANDLING AND TIPPING MACHINE 1s Sheets-Sheet 2 OriginalFiled Oct. 2, 3.956v

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I aw 5nd,. 22 m 3 4 eoo I 520 l N l March 6, 1962 R. l JLLMAN ETALCOMPONENT HANDLING AND TIPPING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 2, 1956 18Sheets- Sheet 16 March 6, 1962 Original Filed Oct. 2, 1956 R. 'ULLMANETAL COMPONENT HANDLING AND. TIPPING MACHINE 18 Sheets-Sheet 17 March 6,1962 R. ULLMAN ETAL COMPONENT HANDLING AND TIPPING MACHINE 18Sheets-Sheet 18 Original Filed Oct. 2, 1956 United States Patent ()fiice3,023,415 Patented Mar. 6, 1962 3,023,415 COMPONENT HANDLING ANDTiIPPENG MACHINE Robert Ullman, Harrisburg, Henry F. Fortna, Palmyra,John M. Middleton, Harrisburg, Glendon H. Schwalm, York, and Russell L.Tritt, Lemoyne, Pa, assignors to arm Incorporated, a corporation of NewJersey Original application Get. 2., 1356, Ser. No. 613,416, new PatentNo. 2,961,027, dated Nov. 22, 196i}. Divided and this application Nov.30, 1959, Ser. No. 4,846 6 Claims. (Cl. 1---177) This invention relatesto improvements in a component handling and tipping machine, and moreparticularly, to a machine designed and equipped with interrelatedmechanism operable to receive electrical components each havmg a bodyand one or more leads projecting longitudinally respectively fromopposite ends thereof, arranging said components for successivelongitudinal feeding thereof to mechanism which trims one or both ofsaid leads to a predetermined length, applies a terminal preferably tothe outer end of one or both of said leads, and then shapes said leadsby bending the same into predetermined configurations, whereupon saidshaped components are in condition to be inserted into suitableelectrical equipment such as a panel board provided with receptacleholes in circuit means into which the tipped leads of the electricalcomponent are to be inserted.

Various types of electrical components are required for use in manytypes of electrical circuits at present and particularly electroniccircuits of various kinds. The term electrical component or component,as used hereinafter, is intended to embrace quite an extensive generalclass of electrical components including, for example, diodes, carbonresistors, pulse transformers, condensers, capacitors, and similarelectrical items, each having the general, common characteristics ofcomprising a body, usually cylindrical, provided with one or moreelectrical leads such as wire members projecting longitudinallyrespectively from opposite ends of said body. Most, if not all of saidcomponents have bodies including various kinds of electrical equipmentwhich is sealed within said bodies. Further, these components usuallygenerate a certain amount of heat during the operation thereof and it ispreferable to mount said bodies upon a panel board or the like of anelectric circuit so that said bodies are spaced from the panel board andthereby may be ventilated by ambient air much more efiiciently than ifsaid bodies merely were clamped directly against such panel board forexample.

The bodies of such electrical components may be supported effectivelyfrom; a panel board or the like if the leads projecting from oppositeends thereof are bent more or less at a right angle to the axis of thebody, whereby the component has a substantially U-shaped configuration,the bent leads thereof actually comprising the supporting means for thecomponents. Such components may be installed in an electrical circuit ona panel board having a printed circuit thereon, for example, byproviding said panel board with receiving holes or sockets directlyconnected within the circuit, and terminals are applied to the outerends of the leads of the components, either before or after bending thesame. Such terminals have a firm metal-to-metal contact with the leadends and afford a ready means for connecting such ends of the leads intothe circuit by being received within the holes or sockets within thecircuit referred to above.

Heretofore, the leads of such components usually have been bent by theuse of hand operated tools but such manual operations are timeconsuming, and hence costly- The human element also enters the situationnot only from the cost standpoint but also from the possibility oferrors occurring. Thus, in an effort to reduce costs and insure thegreater accuracy normally resulting from the use of automatic machinery,efforts have been made previously to provide certain types of machinesto perform at least some of the more elementary operations required toproduce a component having a terminal fixed to at least one leadthereof.

The complexity of handling and performing operations upon components ofthe type referred to, however, seriously has defied previous efforts toproduce substantially automatic machines for feeding said components indesired order, trimming the leads to precise lengths, applying terminalsto the ends of said leads, and shaping said leads into predeterminedconfigurations. However, the constantly rising cost of man power hasintensified such efforts and the present invention represents, in asingle machine, interrelated mechanism capable of performingautomatically all of the aforementioned functions to produce shapedcomponents having terminals applied to the outer ends of the leadsthereof without requiring any manual effort in such production.

The present invention comprises an exemplary machine includinginterrelated and sequentially operated portions which function in timedrelationship respectively to receive a batch-type supply of similarcomponents arranged at random, sort and feed said components formovement in longitudinal succession to means which arrange the same instacked relationship one above the other for free movement into a stackwherein said components are substantially parallel to each other,sequentially deliver the endmost component in said stack to indexingmechanism which arranges the components in desired spaced relationshipto each other for movement along a path and, in the course of suchmovement, the excess length of some or all of the leads projecting fromthe ends of the bodies of the components are trimmed accurately todesired length so as to produce leads of precise dimensions, after whichterminals are aflixed to the outer ends of one or both of said leads bymulti-function die means which not only curl the terminals around theleads but also swage the same thereto and preferably produce a point onthe outer end of each terminal which supplements an outwardly taperedshape into which the united terminal and lead is swaged to facilitate afirm physical contact of the terminals with sockets in the circuit boardwhich receive the same; the components having terminals applied theretothen being moved to a portion of the machine which sequentially acceptsthe components and clamps the leads thereof to securely hold thecomponents While the outer portions of some or all of the leads thereofare bent precisely into a predetermined configuration and the shapedcomponents then are discharged from the machine.

Further, all portions of the above-described mechanism embodied in thepresent invention are adjustable so as to render the machine adaptableto sort, feed and stack components of uniform size selected from arelatively wide range of lengths and diameters of bodies and anextensive range of diameters and lengths of leads, the lead trimming andterminal applying portions of the machine are adjustable to permit themachine to trim the leads to a precise length within a substantial rangeof diiferent lengths, and the portion of the machine which bends theleads into predetermined configuration also is adaptable to placing thebends in the leads at any desired location and thereby automaticallyproduce an unlimited series of identically shaped components.

The supply of terminals for application to the leads of the componentsis effected by automatically operated means incorporated in the machinewhich sequentially feed, stepwise, a series of terminals connected instrip form which are delivered to the terminal applying means,

the feeding of said strip of terminals being controlled by the timedarrival and positioning of a component at said applying means, whereby,if for any reason a misfeeding of the components occurs, the terminalapplying mechanism will not jam or otherwise misfunction. Further, ifthe strip of terminals, which preferably is coiled upon a suitable reel,should become tangled, whereby the feeding thereof to the applying meansis impeded, safety control means are provided which stop the operationof the entire machine. Additional similar control means also areprovided for stopping the machine when the supply of terminals to one orthe other of the applying means in the machine becomes exhausted.

The entire machine has been designed so as to be extremely compact andfool-proof in operation. The adjustment of the machine to handlecomponents of a certain size of body and length of lead is accomplishedreadily and with a minimum of effort in the various portions of themachine which arrange and stack the components, index the components,trim the leads, apply the terminals, and bend the terminals topredetermined shape. All of the various portions of the machine whichperform these functions operate in timed sequence relative to each otherand are driven by interconnected actuating means, the operation of whichis controlled by certain main control means as well as by safety controldevices referred to above.

In general, as will be seen from the foregoing, the principal objectivesof the present invention are to provide an automatically operablemachine which will increase the production rate of components shaped asdescribed above over that possible at present, insure uniformity in theproducts, and permit ready adjustment of all portions of the machine tooperate upon components selected from a wide range of sizes of lengthsand diameters of bodies and leads. Also, the unique type of swaging andshaping of the terminals and leads accomplished by the machine resultsin highly etficient mechanical connection of the terminals to the leadsand of the terminals to the circuit boards, improved solderingconditions, and thereby avoids short circuit conditions in the completedproducts.

Although the invention primarily is adapted and arranged to operate uponcomponents having bodies with terminals projecting longitudinally fromopposite ends thereof, it is conceivable that a machine embodying theprinciples of the invention may be used to apply terminals to the endsof circuit wires, such as jumper wires, which are to be cut or trimmedto predetermined lengths and terminals applied to the ends of said wiresfor application of said wires to a circuit board for example.

Details of the invention and of an exemplary machine embodying theprinciples thereof, as well as the advantages and efficient operatingcharacteristics of the machine, are set forth in the followingspecification and illustrated in the drawings accompanying the same andcomprising a part thereof.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic general layout of a machine embodying the basicprinciples of the invention and illustrating particularly the variousstations at which components are handled or acted upon in various waysby the machine to form the desired product.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of that portion of the machine whicharranges components from a random mass into an orderly stack from whichthey are delivered to an indexing means embodied in the machine.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the arranging means illustrated in FIGURE 2,only the forward portion of said means being illustrated in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the means shown in FIGURE 3.

' tion taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 6-6of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 7 is an exploded perspective View showing two relativelyadjustable elements comprising guide chutes and embodied in thearranging mechanism illustrated in FIGURES 2 through 4.

FIGURE 8 is a horizontal sectional view of part of the mechanism shownin FIGURE 4 and taken on the line 8-8 of said figure.

FIGURE 9 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of FIGURE 8to illustrate certain details of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 10 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line lit-It? ofFIGURE 8 for purposes of illustrating further details of the mechanismshown in FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line11-11 of FIGURE 2 and illustrates details of means for dischargingcomponents from the lower end of a stack thereof in the arrangingmechanism shown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 12 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 12-12 of FIGURE11 and illustrating details of the discharge mechanism shown in thelatter figure.

FIGURE 13 is a horizontal sectional View taken on the line 13-13 ofFIGURE 4 and illustrating still further details of the dischargemechanism.

FIGURE 14 is a front perspective view of that portion of the machinewhich embodies the indexing means, terminal feeding and applying means,and the principal supporting mechanism for said means; the componentstacking and lead bending means of the machine being omitted to simplifythe view.

FIGURE 15 is a plan view of that portion of the machine which isillustrated in FIGURE 14.

FIGURE 16 is a front elevational view of that portion of the machinewhich is illustrated in FIGURE 14.

FIGURE 17 is a side elevation of that portion of the machine which isillustrated in FIGURE 14.

FIGURE 18 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 18-18 of FIGURE16 but illustrating on a larger scale than in the latter figure certaindetails of the component indexing means, and portions of the terminalapplying means and control means therefor, parts of the elements of themechanism being broken away to foreshorten the view.

FIGURE 19 is a vertical sectional view taken at a right angle to theview in FIGURE 18 and shown on the line 19-19 of FIGURE 18.

FIGURE 20 is a vertical elevation opposite to that shown in FIGURE 18 asseen from the line 20-20 of FIGURE 16.

FIGURE 21 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken generally alongthe line 21-21 of FIGURE 20 and showing details of the terminal feedingand applying portions of the machine.

FIGURE 22 is an exploded perspective view of a composite terminalapplying die and the anvil structure which cooperates therewith.

FIGURE 23 is a fragmentary perspective view of the index mechanism andillustrates means for releasably holding the indexing mechanismperiodically at various positions of advancement thereof.

FIGURE 24 is a perspective elevation of shaft means for supporting andadjusting the index wheels of the indexing mechanism.

FIGURE 25 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line25-25 of FIGURE 24.

FIGURE 26 is a diagrammatic plan view of a series of components beingmoved along a predetermined path by the indexing wheels of the mechanismand illustrating the various positions of the components as they aremoved successively to the several trimming mechanisms for the leads andthe terminal applying units of the machine.

FIGURE 27 is a perspective exploded view illustrating schematically thearrangement of the several terminal

